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“We don’t want to train in the zoo. We want to train in the jungle so we’re ready to hunt on Saturdays.”
That’s what Northern State head football coach Mike Schmidt said following the Wolves’ dominant 31-10 victory over Concordia-St. Paul Saturday, Sept. 20 inside a packed Dacotah Bank Stadium.
Some 7,011 fans watched the Wolves take care of business in a celebratory homecoming atmosphere.
“Really, I just have to say thanks to 7,000 people coming out for Gypsy Days. It was awesome and such an incredible atmosphere,” Schmidt said. “A lot of things go into homecoming, and we really appreciate all that it is.”
Northern is now 2-1 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and sits in third in the NSIC Northern Division standings.
Schmidt cited Northern’s game preparation as a major reason the Wolves excelled.
“We’re doing physical stuff in practice — that’s just how we do it to get prepared — and, really, that’s how you put the whole thing together. We know our guys are gonna show up. These are the guys we recruit, and, right now, we have a team full of badasses who just wanna show up and smack dudes around and you saw it today,” he said.
Northern State’s Hank Kraft outraces Concordia-St. Paul’s Hudson Jean (2) and Ben Rehl to the end zone on a 30-yard catch and run for a touchdown in the first quarter Saturday, Sept. 20 at Dacotah Bank Stadium. Kraft added a rushing touchdown in the Wolves’ 31-10 win. Aberdeen Insider photo by Robb Garofalo.
Northern’s offense gets going early
Northern State wasted little time getting its offense in gear.
After forcing a Golden Bear punt, the Wolves took a 7-0 lead on a Brock Bagozzi to Hank Kraft 30-yard touchdown pass, capping off a four-play, 45-yard drive. Kraft juked two Concordia-St. Paul defenders before breaking to the outside and dashing down the sideline for the score.
“I didn’t think I’d get by two of ’em,” Kraft said. “I mean, I knew I had to try and make a move, but I didn’t know I’d have to make two (moves). I guess it worked though, right?”
He caught three passes for 51 yards and had even more success rushing.
The senior running back carried 11 times for 104 yards for a combined 155 yards. Kraft bulled his way into the end zone from 4 yards out for a second-quarter touchdown to make it 21-3 at halftime.
Northern racked up 516 yards of offense with 246 on the ground.
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“It’s all part of Coach (Brayle) Brown’s offense,” Kraft said. “He schemes up things amazingly and you just go out and execute. Our line, too, they just did a great job up front all day that really helped get our rush going. We’re just playing pretty fast and efficient right now. Lot of guys are getting involved and doing whatever it takes to win.”
Northern’s air attack proved equally effective. Bagozzi and Daniel Britt combined for 270 yards passing.
Bagozzi threw a pair of touchdown passes. After the 30-yarder to Kraft, Bagozzi connected with tight end Zach Kraft on a short completion. Zach Kraft turned upfield, shed a tackler and scored from 46 yards out to put the Wolves up 31-3 with 3:13 left in the third quarter.
Northern State’s Brock Bagozzi beats Concordia-St. Paul’s Ricky Dixon to the end zone on a quarterback keeper in the first quarter Saturday, Sept. 20 inside Dacotah Bank Stadium. Aberdeen Insider photo by Robb Garofalo.
Bagozzi completed 17 of 20 passes for 197 yards.
“It really was a case where Concordia was making an effort of not letting us throw deep,” he said. “But we talked about it — get the ball, force them make a tackle and if we can get guys into space, we’ve got guys who can break those tackles and turn those into long scores. Just take what the defense gives you, and we did that today and played a really clean game as an offense.”
Bagozzi also ran for a score. After faking a handoff on fourth and 1, he ran in from 9 yards out to make it 14-3 with 4:07 to play in the first quarter.
The senior transfer from Missouri State said Saturday was his most complete game this season.
“Oh yeah, 100% it felt more comfortable,” Bagozzi said. “Gotta give credit to my teammates. Our O line did a great job and gave me time back there. I just got here over the summer, so I’m still learning a lot of stuff, but today I felt really comfortable, and we really showed what we’re capable of as an offense.”
For the second straight week, Northern’s defense gave up plenty of yards, but few points.
Northern State’s Javonnee Szymanksi, left and Jake Adams combined to stop Concordia-St. Paul’s Dan Hornacek Saturday, Sept. 20 inside Dacotah Bank Stadium. Aberdeen Insider photo by Robb Garofalo.
Defense dominates for three quarters
The Golden Bears accumulated 326 yards on offense, but only three points until after the outcome was decided. Concordia-St. Paul quarterback Lincoln Graf finished 21 of 32 for 183 yards.
“It’s really what our defense is designed to do, and that’s to eliminate big plays, which we’ve been successful at,” Schmidt said. “Graf can sling the ball around and he was 9 of 11 in the fourth quarter, but who cares? The game was well out of hand. He could throw for 600 yards in the fourth, it didn’t matter, the game was well in control on our end.”
He said Hank Kraft’s touchdown before halftime and Jeremy Caruso’s 47-yard field goal early in the third allowed the Wolves defense to get after it.
“Getting that three-score cushion lets you be like a boa constrictor and just kind of choke you out a little bit. That’s just what we’re allowed to do with the structure of our defense and how many guys we have that force you to have to drive the field instead of getting those quick-strike big plays,” Schmidt said.
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Jake Adams recorded nine tackles and broke Logan Dosch’s career mark of 254. With the bulk of the season remaining, the junior linebacker has 256 career tackles.
“It was pretty sweet, seeing Logan here on the sidelines with us today and then having Jake set the record,” Schmidt said. “It just speaks to the tradition here at Northern, and having guys like Logan come back for homecoming is pretty special.”
Next up, the Wolves have two tough NSIC road games. They travel to the University of Mary on Saturday, Sept. 27 and Bemidji State on Saturday, Oct. 4.
“We talked about it in the locker room how we have to take this thing on the road for the next couple of weeks before we get back home,” Schmidt said. “It’s always tough to play at Mary, it just is. Look, we’re going to enjoy this one. Gypsy Days is always fun for the guys. Everybody back, just an awesome crowd again. We’re coming out of this game pretty healthy, but we know we’ve got two games in two difficult places to play. This group though, it’s just a different mentality, and they just want to show up and keep playing.”
